Think Twice
by YourRoyalC-RokHighness
Summary: After Tony gets on Gibbs' bad side, he's forced to house a suspect who's being hunted. What Gibbs doesn't know is that he has another temporary roommate, who catches the eye of the suspect. Your Royal Highness & C-Rokkk co-authorship! TIVA!


Ziva walked into her apartment after four days at the office. Team Gibbs had finally caught the bastard who killed two marines on Sunday afternoon, and it was a wild swan chase to find the man.

She shed her backpack, badge and gun at the table next to the door. Walking straight to her room, she put her long dark hair into a bun and quickly changed into her pajama's. It was only 1030h, but she was so exhausted and had no plans to go anywhere for the rest of the day.

The sunlight coming through her curtains quickly disappeared when she walked over and closed them, so that the room was completely dark except the small slivers of light under the edges of the curtains.

She lay down in her bed and let out a long sigh, hoping that the sleep that was forgotten the last few days would come to her quickly.

About an hour later she reluctantly opened her eyes again to the banging on her door. She put her pillow over her head and pressed hard, hoping that it would block the noise out and she could go back to sleep.

But the pillow didn't work, and the noise wouldn't stop, so she rolled out of her bed and debated on whether or not to shoot the person on the other side of the door. She swung it open and stared at the man.

"Uh, hi, miss David?"

She crossed her arms and told herself not to yell at this man, "It is pronounced Dah-veed."

"Right, uh, sorry. Listen I'm the manager of the building here." He held out his hand, "Chris Scott. Nice to meet you."

Now she recognized who he was, she shook his hand quickly and crossed her arms again. "Yes, I have seen you around."

"Yeah you've been living here a while now and this is the first time we've spoken!" Ziva only nodded and hoped he would get to the point soon, "I told Tina that I need to do better about meeting the tenants, but managing is hard work, you know."

Ziva nodded and put on a fake smile, "I am sure it is." She unfolded her arms and put one on the door, "It was nice meeting you, but I have..."

"Oh no, that's not why I'm here. We're gonna need you to find another place to stay for a few days until we can get this pest problem under control."

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together and shook her head, "I do not have any pest problems."

He smiled at her, "That's good! But we're gonna need the entire building emptied so we can fumigate and get rid of all of them. It's the law."

Ziva pinched the top of her nose, "So you are telling me that I have to leave because the _building _is..."

"Being fumigated." He finished for her. "You don't have to take any of your stuff, the team will cover it for you and it'll be fine during the process. Here's a paper explaining it all, and you'll need to be out by today by noon, alright?"

That statement made her look the man dead in the eyes, "Today? Why did you not tell me before? It will be impossible for me to find somewhere in an hour!"

Chris ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah and with that big skater competition thing in town this weekend you probably won't be able to get a decent hotel room..."

Ziva groaned, "I cannot believe this."

"Well we made the announcement Saturday night but you weren't here. And when I saw you come in today..."

"When can I come back?"

"You can come back Sunday, if they don't find anymore problems with the place." She sighed heavily and he nodded at her, "I am sorry for the inconvience. I don't know how this problem got so out of control."

Ziva rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "Americans."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Alright well, my cell phone is on there if you have any questions. I'll let you go so you can pack some clothes. Nice meeting you."

Ziva groaned and shut the door, leaning on it.

All she wanted was sleep. Was that too much to ask?

Now, she had to find a place to live for a few days in less than an hour.

Lesson learned: Apartments suck.

_Tony walked over to the refrigerator to see if there was anything inside that would remotely kill the growl in his stomach. He sniffed two containers before sticking them back in and picking out another._

_And then he heard it._

_Heard..._her.

"_Tony, can you come in here please?"_

_He dropped the container he had in his hand and the lasagna inside went all over the floor. He looked around his empty apartment before turning his attention back to his bedroom. _

"_Tony, are you going to leave me in here all alone?" _

_He had to close his mouth and swallow before he choked on his own spit. "Uh, who's there?" That was a stupid question. He _knew_ who's voice that was._

_She laughed and spoke again, "You already know who I am, Anthony. Come in here, please." _

_Tony almost tripped over his shoes that were in the floor as he slowly walked to the bedroom door. He turned the knob and pushed the door._

_She was laying on his bed in a dark green night gown that went perfectly with her olive skin. Her hair was down and curled, just like he liked it. She patted the empty side of the bed and spoke to him again, "Would you like to join me?" He gulped and walked over to the bed, sitting on it slowly. Turning to her, he put his large hand on her face and pulled her closer with his free hand. "Do you want to answer that?"_

Tony woke suddenly and picked the phone up off of his bedside table, putting it lazily to his ear. "Hel-DiNozzo." He sat up further in the bed, "Hello?"

He groaned when he realized that it was the door and not his phone. He pulled himself out of bed and dragged to the front door, pulling it open quickly. His face fell when he saw his partner. "Please tell me that we don't have another case."

Ziva shook her head, "No."

"Okay, good." He crossed his arms over his bare chest and leaned on the doorway, "Then why are you here? And I hope it's important because I was having a _very_ nice dream, David." She sighed deeply and held out the yellow paper for him to read. "Your building is being fumigated? Why?"

She groaned, "I do not know. Something about pests." Tony chuckled at her, "So I was wondering if I could...borrow your couch for a few days."

Tony grinned like he'd just won a lot of money, "Uh huh. And was I the first person on your list? Not that I mind, but it's awesome to be number one all the time."

Ziva rolled her eyes and whacked him in the chest as she walked by, "Do not flatter yourself. Abby was not home and McGee has his sister over."

He knew his mouth fell to the floor, "You went to McGee's before you came here?"

She smiled at him, "So may I stay?"

"I don't know. I'm offended." She stared at him and crossed her arms, "Of course you can sstay. Your bag in the car?"

"Yes, I will go and get it."

He shook his head and waved her off, "Nah, I'll get it."

Ziva sighed deeply and watched him walk outside. She sat down on his couch and ran a hand over her tired face. She stared at the picture on his mantle of Tony, herself, Abby and McGee at one of the bars they went to. She had the same picture in her pest-infested apartment. She smiled at the memory.

Then her mind trailed to how good her partner looked in just sweatpants. He could wear that everyday to work and she wouldn't have a problem with it.

Gibbs might, though.

She shook her head to try and get the thought of her half-dressed partner our of her head. She was tired, that's what's wrong, she decided.

He walked back in the house and into his bedroom, placing her bag on his bed, "Come in here, Zi. You can take the bed. The couch isn't comfortable."

Ziva walked in the room behind him, "No, Tony. I do not want to take your bed. I will take the couch, I promise I have slept on worse."

"What was his name?" He laughed at his own joke, but stopped when he realized she wasn't. "Seriously, you take the bed. I don't mind the couch, I fall asleep there all the time when I watch movies."

"Are they that boring?" Now it was her turn to laugh.

He stared at her and pointed to the bed, "Go to sleep."

On a normal day, she would have fought him some more on the bed/couch issue. But at the current moment, she was way too tired to care.

And honestly the bed sounded way better.

She yawned again as she climbed under the covers and closed her eyes, but then opened them again when his bedroom door opened.

He waved his cell phone in the air, "Don't get too comfortable."

She sat up on her elbows and stared at him, "Why not?" She said sternly.

"Gibbs called. We've got a case."

She fell back onto the bed and covered her face with her hands.

God she was tired.

"Wanna drive together?" Tony asked, staring at his partner.

She shook her head, "No, Gibbs would notice that. I do not want to feel his wrath. I am too tired for that."

"Good point." He nodded and started towards his closet, "It may be Wednesday but it's casual for me. Feels like freakin' Friday anyways." He said, grabbing a t-shirt and jeans. Ziva just nodded and changed clothes quickly.

Before Tony knew it, she was gone and walking out of his door. Sighing, he realized he had absolutely no motivation. But even faking sick would not phase Gibbs to the slightest.

The best thing that had happened to him in the past three days was Ziva's pest problem. Actually, the thought of her being in his apartment for practically a whole week caused his stomach to turn.

He tried to tell himself to stop acting like a girl and just to get over it, but his amazing dream was still fresh in his head. Maybe, just maybe...

He mentally slapped himself.

That would never happen.

Tony sat at the stop light in DC traffic.

He hated it.

He hadn't even bothered to turn the radio on, as he didn't even care at this point in time. His phone vibrated as he waited for the light to turn green and he pulled it out of his pocket, checking his text messages.

One new one from McGee.

'_Your turn to get coffee. Don't forget. Gibbs is already cranky and has downed four already. Hurry.'_

"Damn it." He muttered under his breath as he looked into the left turn hand lane and then in his mirror to see if anyone was behind him. Nobody was coming, so he took the opportunity to switch lanes.

When he made it to the coffee shop he ordered one for himself, McGee, Ziva, and Gibbs. He made sure that his had extra espresso shots, and he added a couple for Ziva too, knowing that his favorite Israeli would need it as well.

After paying, he walked out with the cup carrier and towards his car. He got in and set the cups down in the passenger seat, sticking his key into the ignition and turning it.

However, the car just sputtered and refused to start.

Tony growled and cursed under his breath, "Damn it."

He tried it again, but once again, it wouldn't start. He slammed his hand against the steering wheel and tried it again, but it just sputtered at him, "Come on baby, don't do this to me." He tried again, and failed again. It was no use. The battery must have been dead. He glanced at his watch. Gibbs had called almost an hour ago; he was definitely going to be pissed.

Tony looked at the coffee cups and then estimated how long it would take him to get to NCIS if he walked.

Judging the time to be about fifteen minutes, he realized that calling someone to come and pick him up would take just as long. He grabbed his backpack and the cups of coffee and then slammed his car door, praying that it would still be there when he came back with a tow truck later that evening.

Tony DiNozzo begrudgingly started walking towards headquarters, trying to keep his pace up in his tired mind. What his body was running on, he honestly did not know. He took a small sip of his coffee and then continued shoving through the streets of DC. Why they were so crowded at this time of the day, he didn't understand, but he pushed on.

Tony kept moving, trying to keep his focus on not being terribly late. He felt his phone vibrate again and he checked the text messages.

This time, it was from Ziva.

'_Gibbs is PISSED. Where are you? I do not think he has had his morning coffee...' _

Tony groaned and texted her back with one hand: '_On my way, car wouldn't start, about 5 min-' _and then he stopped as he accidentally ran into the back of someone, not paying attention to where he was going. One of the coffee's in the carrier spilled all over the ground and Tony tried to resist the urge to scream out.

He _had _to spill Gibbs' coffee.

"I'm sorry." he told the woman he bumped into, but she just stomped on his foot and caused him to wince before storming away, "Great. Just wonderful." He muttered to himself as he continued to walk to work, trying desperately to think of what to say to Gibbs when he realized he didn't have his coffee.

The only coffee that was important!

It had been quite some time since he had to face Gibbs without coffee.

He was not looking forward to it at all.

He finished texting Ziva back '-_away. Tell Gibbs to cool his engines.'_

Mere seconds passed before she sent him another text '_I do not think you understood what I said when I said pissed.'_

Tony just groaned, '_I'm passed security, going up the elevator. See you soon.' _He entered the front doors of NCIS, grinning at the security there, who obviously knew who he was. As he entered the elevator, he pressed the button for the bullpen and headed up to the floor.

The doors opened, revealing the orange walls to his eyes. As he exited the elevator and walked towards the bullpen, he realized that his teammates were nowhere to be found. His phone vibrated in his pocket.

Another text from Ziva.

'_Gibbs wanted to leave without you. Meet us at crime scene.' _Following that was an address and Tony groaned.

He was more than a dead man.

By the time that Tony got a Charger and got to the crime scene, McGee was already collecting evidence and Ziva was snapping photos. Gibbs was taking witness statements and Ducky was already analyzing the body.

Tony begrudgingly walked over to his boss and cleared his throat.

Gibbs turned around and stared at his senior field agent with icy blue eyes of steel, "Where the hell have you been, DiNozzo? I called you over two hours ago." His words cut through him and Tony tried not to cringe.

"Sorry boss, had a few um...difficulties."

"Don't care, go help Ziva." He directed and Tony nodded, turning towards where Ziva and McGee were, the coffee carrier in his hands, "Hey, DiNozzo." Gibbs called and Tony turned around quickly.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Where's my coffee?" he asked, staring at the three cups in the carrier.

Tony just stared down at it, "Yeah, funny story about that...I kinda uh..." Tony scratched the back of his head with one hand and gave a small laugh and a famous DiNozzo smile. It was shaky, though, "Kinda dropped it..."

Gibbs just stared at him, and Tony swore that if it was possible, he would be dead right now, "Go." Gibbs just said to him, and Tony knew that he was pissed.

Tony turned around to go walk towards his teammates and then turned quickly back around to apologize again, but ran right into Gibbs with his coffee carrier, causing two of the coffees to spill all over him. Gibbs shook the coffee off of him and glared at Tony.

"Boss, I-I-" he was at a loss of words.

"Just do your damn job." He muttered, walking away, trying to wring the coffee out of his jacket.

Tony stared after him.

He was definitely a dead man.  
>_<p>

"Where's the coffee?" McGee asked him.

Tony groaned and looked up at him, "All over Gibbs' suit jacket and shirt." He said and turned his attention to the dead woman laying on the ground. "What's going on here?"

"Rachel Wilson, 32, ex-girlfriend of Zack Freeman. He's the one that found her. Several gun shot wounds over her torso." McGee replied and then rubbed his eyes with his finger and thumb, "I can't believe you don't have coffee."

Tony ignored him and continued, "He found his ex-girlfriend dead huh? Maybe this one will be easy so we can all go home and-"

Ziva put up her hand to stop him from speaking, "Do not say the 's' word."

"And we said the last case would be easy."

"DiNozzo! Are you going to do anything today?" Gibbs yelled, his arms spread open as he stared at his senior agent. Tony only looked up at him and sat his backpack on the ground, digging out his camera.

"Guess I'll help you with pictures."

Ziva walked over and gently slapped Tony on the face, "I am already done."

"Nothing more I can do here either. Let's get her back to the table, Mr. Palmer." Ducky said, and Palmer began the process of getting the body onto a gurney.

"So he did it, right?" Tony said. "Please let this be an easy one."

Ziva sighed, "We will see. Maybe Gibbs will give us a break after we get ahead in the case, yes?"

Tony scoffed, "Not me. If I don't get back on Gibbs' good side, I'll be here until I'm older than Methuselah before I leave again."

Ziva chuckled, "Nine hundred and sixty nine years is a long time to be within those orange walls, Tony." She picked up her backpack and so did he and they walked together back to the Charger he drove.

"Who knows? Maybe they'll change the wall color by then." Ziva only shook her head, "So I wanted to make lasagna for you tonight, but since I'm never leaving the office again, looks like Chinese at the desk."

Ziva shrugged a shoulder, "Chinese can be good."

"Not for 969 years."

She pointed at him, "Good point."

Tony clicked the wireless entry for the doors to unlock. Just as he was about to open the driver's side door, a single gunshot was heard. Tony and Ziva both took cover, drawing their weapons and retreating to the rear end of the car. "What in the hell?" Tony whispered to his partner, "Where did that come from?"

Ziva looked over at Gibbs who was firing his weapon, pointing in the same direction she had hers. "Over there." She said softly.

They stayed in that position for about 5 minutes until Gibbs walked over to them, his weapon already holstered. He held his hand out to help Ziva up. "He's gone. Took off after he heard me fire. You guys okay?"

Tony and Ziva stood up and holstered their own weapons, "Yeah, fine boss." Tony said.

"What happened?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs motioned to the medical examiner's truck, "He shot Zack Freeman. The guy who found her."

"Is he alive?" Tony asked, looking past Gibbs and at the truck.

"Yeah, it only grazed his shoulder. Ducky's fixing him up now. Didn't want an ambulance." Gibbs replied, "Tony, you and Ziva go stay with him. Looks like he needs our protection."

"So you don't think he did it?"

"Not sure yet, but we don't need him dead before we find out. Go."

Tony and Ziva looked at each other and then walked past their boss and over to the back of the truck. "This will heal in about two weeks, but you need to have the dressing changed on it in 3 days."

"Okay, thanks Doc." Zack said, and then looked at the two new people standing in front of him. "Hey." He said with a smile on his face, particularly at Ziva.

"Let's go, Mr. Palmer. We are wasting valuable autopsy time." Palmer closed the doors to the truck and walked back over to the driver's side, and they pulled away.

Tony stepped a little closer to Zack, and immediately felt a ping of jealously when he was using elevator eyes on his partner. "Special Agent DiNozzo, this is Special Agent David. You need to come with us."

"Okay, did I uh, do something wrong?"

"That's what we're going to figure out."

"Yo, I didn't kill her, okay? I would never hurt a woman."

"Then who killed her?" Tony asked him.

"I don't know! Probably her crazy husband. We broke up and recently she's been trying to hook up with me. Not my fault she's dead."

"Well lets just head back to the magical silver box and you can give us all the deats, ok?" Tony said. He put his hand on Zack's shoulder and lead him to the car, opening the back door for him.

"What about my car man? I can't just leave that here."

"Your car will be fine. Get in." Tony said, and waited until he moved his feet before shutting the door. "He did it. He's got murderer in his eyes." He said to Ziva, who was standing behind him.

Ziva shook her head, "I do not think so. Why did he get shot?"

Tony shook his head back at her, "Probably a setup."

Ziva chuckled, "Well Gibbs will find out the truth, yes?"

Tony watched her as she got into the passenger seat.

He eyed the man in the backseat as he walked around the car.

_Better keep his eyes to himself, _Tony thought.

The three returned to headquarters, Ziva following Tony into the building, who had Zack in front of him. He was making sure to keep a good distance between him and Ziva.

Ziva, however, did not notice Tony's attempt and walked next to her partner, matching his steps.

"So, are you going to be the one to ask me the questions?" Zack questioned, smiling at Ziva.

She gave a small 'hah' and smiled slightly, "No, that would be Agent Gibbs."

Tony just glared at the man, pushing his good shoulder slightly forward to keep him walking, and to keep his head in line.

They were just about to the interrogation room and Tony guided him faster down the hallway, "Here we are, interrogation room number one. Ice that shoulder, take some aspirin, you should be fine." He opened the door for him and Zack turned to Ziva once he was in the doorway.

"I'll be seeing you again?" He asked, grinning at her.

Ziva just smirked and Tony all but pushed the man into the interrogation room, closing the door behind him.

"Observation room, my lady?" Tony questioned, hurrying in front of her and opening up the door, making a dramatic gesture towards the room.

She laughed, "Thank you." She nodded and then entered the room, crossing her arms and standing at the far left corner of the glass. She felt Tony approach her from behind and rest one arm on the other side of her, leaning against the space between the glass and the wall, closing her in.

"You think he is guilty?" Ziva questioned.

"I think he needs to keep his mind..." He stared at the man through the glass, "and his eyes..." He stared at his partner, "on the case."

She smirked and chuckled, "You did not answer my question."

"It's a set up. Just watch, Gibbs'll prove it."

"He was shot, Tony. I do not think anybody would want to purposely get shot. Especially an ex boyfriend." She justified.

"He's guilty. Shot his ex girlfriend out of jealousy."

"Would you like to make this a bet?" She asked, turning around and staring at him, his face less than a foot from hers.

"Absolutely." He smiled.

"Fine. If i win, which I will, then you have to make dinner for the rest of the week."

"And if I win?" He probed.

"Then I will make all of the meals. But you will not win."

"Game on, David." He challenged, moving his face slightly closer to hers. She caught her breath in her throat, but they were both interrupted by the door to interrogation opening. Tony looked up at saw Gibbs throw a folder down onto the table.

"Zack Freeman." he started, and Ziva turned around so that she was looking through the glass and at the interrogation that was going on.

"That's my name." He stared at Gibbs as he sat down in the chair across from him.

"What's your relationship to Rachel Wilson?"

"She's my ex! Already told your other coppers this."

"Coppers?" Tony questioned and Ziva just laughed.

Gibbs, of course, decided to ignore his statement, "What else can you tell me?"

"Look, all I know is that Rach obviously couldn't get enough of me. I mean, who can really blame her, right? Always blowing up my phone wanting to hook up with me. We slept together a couple of times but then her crazy ass husband found out..."

"And then what happened?"

"Obviously the dude's freaking crazy! Shot me!" He gestured to his shoulder, "This shit hurts."

"Take some aspirin, when was the last time you saw Rachel?"

"Um, last night? We met up at a bar and had a couple of drinks. Then her husband showed up. Went crazy."

"What happened?"

"Shoved me into the bar. Rach took off. He tried to take another punch, punched a glass instead shattered it. Went _everywhere. _Threatened to kill me! Then took off after her. Tried to call Rach all night but she didn't pick up. Wanted to tell her I had enough, you know? I mean, I almost got killed!"

"Why'd you go to her house?"

"To go and check on her! That's when that bastard shot me!"

"Where were you at four this morning?"

"Asleep."

"You have anybody who can confirm that alibi?"

"Uh...my dog? My pet fish. Rocky."

"Who names their pet fish Rocky?" Tony questioned.

"Someone who obviously has too much time on his hands..." She responded.

"Maybe Bullwinkle died." Tony joked and Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together.

"What?" She asked.

He sighed and let his smile fade a little, "The Rocky and Bullwinkle show?" Tony asked, "In the 60's? Cartoon about a moose and a flying squirrel?"

"Why would a moose and a squirrel be friends?"

"That is why it's a cartoon! Never mind." He sighed and Ziva smirked. She loved seeing him get so wound up over her lack of trivia knowledge on movies and TV shows.

"Need a better alibi than that."

"That's the only alibi I got, man!" He cried, "Look, I didn't kill Rach. I loved her, I only wanted her to be safe."

"He is innocent." Ziva pushed and Tony still shook his head.

"Gibbs doesn't believe it. Just wait, he'll break him."

Gibbs closed the folder and stood up, "Put some ice on that shoulder, get some rest, take some pain medication. Go home. But keep your phone on you at all times. Don't leave."

"Thanks, man!" He grinned, standing up and shaking him with his good hand. Gibbs held the door open for him and Ziva and Tony walked out of observation.

Ziva smirked as Tony just stood there. Gibbs watched as another NCIS agent escorted Zack Freeman out of the building, who made sure to wink at Ziva on the way out, before turning to Tony and Ziva.

"You think he's innocent, boss?"

"Yup." He simply said, "Getting coffee. DiNozzo, run his phone records to see if they match up to his story."

They both watched as he walked away and Ziva smirked at Tony, "I win." She boasted and he growled, "I would like mushroom lasagna tonight." She smiled as she started to walk away.

"Damn it." Tony muttered.

Today just wasn't his day.

Tony, Ziva and McGee sat at their desks about 4 hours later, each of them holding their heads up with their hands. McGee woke himself up with his own snore and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I can't even look at this computer screen." He said.

Tony yawned, "I knew all those years of staring at that thing would catch up with you."

"I'm so exhausted. I forgot what I'm supposed to be looking for."

"Uh, I think You're supposed to be running numbers against Rachel Wilson's cell phone to see if you can find out..."

"Did you seriously just trail off in the middle of your sentence?" McGee asked.

Ziva pulled her head up, "This is rediculous. We cannot work on no sleep."

"Then why don't you tell Gibbs so he'll let us go home and get some rest?" Tony asked. He now had his head down on his desk, using his arms for a pillow.

Ziva scoffed, "Why should I tell him? I think you should tell him because he already hates you."

"Gibbs doesn't hate me. And you should tell him because you're his favorite." Tony said.

"You spilled his coffee. He does hate you." McGee chimed in.

"I am not his favorite! Abby is his favorite." Ziva defended.

"Stuff it McSleepy nobody is talking to you." Tony said, pointing to the desk to his right and then turned back to Ziva. "Yes, Abby is his favorite, but she also got sleep last night."

"I am not telling him!" Ziva said. "McGee can tell him."

"Gibbs knows that I would never ask him anything like that." McGee replied.

"And I would?" Ziva said.

"Look Ninja, you're the only one out of us that will work. Gibbs is already pissed at me for spilling his coffee, and McPoint has a point about the whole not asking him that thing, and you're the only one that's a gi..." He stopped and changed the word, "...woman."

"I do not think it should be me that should tell him!" Ziva said, staring at her partner across the bullpen.

"Tell him what?" Gibbs said, walking in and stopping in front of Ziva's desk.

"Tony found something." She said, a small smirk on her face.

"What do you got, DiNozzo?"

"Uh, Zack's phone records match up with his story. They talked several times, and his GPS signal shows that he went to her house a few times."

"What else?"

"Um...Well you see..."

"We are exhausted, Gibbs."

Gibbs turned around and looked at the Israeli. "What?"

"We have not had sleep in 72 hours, and we are exhausted. We need some rest so we can finish this case." Ziva said softly. Gibbs took a sip of his coffee and walked to his desk. Tony looked across the bullepn again and mouthed the words 'thank you' to his partner.

Gibbs pressed a couple of buttons on his keyboard and stood up, walking out of the office space again, speaking to them as he did so. "Go home. Be here tomorrow at 0900h. And do not be late."

The three agents quickly grabbed their gear and walked to the elevator, pressing the down button multiple times as if it would make it get there faster.

Ziva looked up at Tony, and then McGee, "You two are complete turkeys."

"You mean chickens?" McGee asked.

"I do not know some kind of small bird that is afraid of the silver fox." The elevator doors opened and the three walked onto it.

"I am not afraid of Gibbs." Tony said, "Gibbs is already pissed at me, and if I asked he would've said no."

All I know is that I'm turning my cell phone off and anything that makes noise." McGee said, "And I think I'll sleep until eight thirty tomorrow morning."

"Then you'll be late. And you heard the boss. Do not be late."

"Don't you think he was talking to you?" McGee questioned.

Tony rolled his eyes, and if he wasn't so tired, he would've argued some more, "It doesn't matter, all that matters is now we get sleep."

"And mushroom lasagna." Ziva said, looking up at Tony, a smirk on her face.

Tony walked into his apartment and looked around for his new temporary roommate. "Ziva, you here?" He called. She walked out of the bathroom in her pajamas again, but this time her her was wet. "You've already showered?" He said.

Ziva shrugged a shoulder, "Yes, I got here 15 minutes ago." She smirked at the look on his face.

"But we left at the same time. How did you..." He sighed deeply, "Nevermind. Hungry?" Ziva followed him into the kitchen and sat on the counter. He took two wine glasses down and filled them, handing her one of them.

"Tony, you do not have to cook tonight if you do not feel up to it. I know you are exhausted, as am I." Ziva said softly.

He chuckled, "You won fair and square." He looked up at her and smiled, "I'm happy to cook. Then, after we eat, we go to bed." Ziva popped her head up, her right eyebrow raised high. Tony laughed nervously, "Uh, well you know. We can go to sleep. I mean, I'll be on the couch, and you'll be like, in there." He gestured towards his bedroom, "But I'll be in here." Ziva laughed and took a sip of her wine and smiled at him as he began sauteing the mushrooms. She loved when she could get under his skin and make him nervous like that.

It was only about an hour later when the oven dinged and the pasta was finished. Tony added the finishing touches and took the garlic bread out of the oven before serving Ziva, and then himself, joining her at the table set for two.

"This looks delicious." Ziva said, and didn't take another second before diving in.

Tony smiled, "I hope you like it." He watched her take several bites before speaking again, "So I was surprised Gibbs didn't break that Zack guy today."

Ziva looked up at him, "I do not think he did it. And I got this delicious dinner because he did nothing."

"Well he was clearly into you, my ninja, so if you're into that kind of thing...go for it." He smiled at her and took a sip of his wine.

"He was not into me."

Tony almost choked on his wine, "Please. He was all over you like white on rice in a glass of milk on a paper plate in a snow storm."

Ziva raised her eyebrow again, "What?"

"He wanted you Ziva."

She smirked, "You sound like a jealous husband, Tony."

He shrugged a shoulder, "I was simply telling you what I saw. The dude almost drooled over you."

Ziva put another bite into her mouth, chewing it slowly, giving Tony that look that drove him absolutely crazy. "He was cute."

Damn it. Add that to the current list of things that drove him crazy: Ziva's smell, her willingness to flirt with that Zack guy, and the looks she was currently giving him.

Ziva dropping her fork on her plate made him snap back into reality. "Tony that was very good. I am impressed." She stood from her chair and walked over to his side of the table, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you very much."

The chill bumps that suddenly appeared all over her body made her shiver as she walked her plate to the sink. He followed her and placed his in as well, "Leave these. I'll wash them later."

Ziva nodded, "Alright. Thanks again for dinner." She smiled up at him, "And for the bed."

He smiled back, "Anytime Zi. Now go sleep. That's an order."

Ziva smirked at him. "Yes sir. Goodnight."

"Night."

Tony finished brushing his teeth and started towards his couch, yawning in the process. But he heard soft music coming from his bedroom, and the door slightly open, a small amount of light going into his hallway.

He furrowed his eyebrows together and walked towards the door, curious as to what his partner was doing inside. He carefully opened the door a little more and watched as she flowed effortlessly across the room.

Tony felt his mouth fall open.

She was _dancing_.

He knew she danced for exercise a lot of times when it rained and she couldn't jog, and that she didn't get a jog in the last few days.

Perhaps that's why,he thought. She needed to get rid of energy. And that she wanted to be a dancer when she was a kid.

Tony's brain automatically thought of an excellent way for her to get rid of some energy, and he'd like to go in there and show her. But he knew that if she saw him she'd probably hurt him in some kind of weird way, but he didn't care. Any kind of pain was worth it. He couldn't peel his eyes off of her as she moved around his room.

The music coming from the small speaker on her cell phone was barely loud enough for him to hear, but it sounded like a pop song in a language he didn't understand. The drums and claps reminded him of a Kelly Clarkson song, and that amused him to no end.

She leaned down and then popped back up, quickly spinning on one leg. The song ended shortly after that and she stretched her arms and back before starting towards the door.

Tony had to pull himself away quickly, silently running down the hallway and back to the couch. He jumped over the edge of it and landed on it with a thump. He turned the TV on and began flipping channels. Ziva opened his door and smirked at him before turning the light off and laying down in his bed.

The dancing definitely helped with her excess energy. Not being able to run in the last few days was driving her crazy, and she needed relief. She closed her eyes and pulled the covers over herself, a smile still on her face.

She knew one thing.

She liked it when he watched her.

* * *

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